Tumbleweed Skies

The moment Ellie and her father pull up in front of her Grandmother Acklebee's farm in Weybolt, Saskatchewan, Ellie knows the place doesn't want her. And it's the last place she wants to be! But Ellie has no choice. Her father was laid off from the mill in Moose Jaw, and he's been taken on by the Marvelous Cookware Company as a salesman, a job that will take him clear across the province and back. The road is no place for a nine-year-old, but leaving Ellie with her grandmother is definitely a last resort, and Ellie is devastated. Ellie doesn't know her grandmother, who angrily blames her son-in-law and granddaughter for her daughter's death. And although her Uncle Roger is a kind man, Ellie is quickly cowed by the old woman, who shows her no kindness. Determined to survive the situation with her dignity intact, Ellie isn't about to show her grandmother that she can be hurt. But with only an injured magpie to befriend and care for, Ellie is desperately lonely. Uncle Roger arranges...